Jonathan Shepherd was born in Whitehaven Cumberland in 1880 and was lost in the sinking of R M S Titanic, aged 32, on the 15th of April 1912.
Shepherd began his seagoing career with W S Kennaugh & Sons, Liverpool, who traded with South America. On his return to Liverpool he succeeded in obtaining a second-class certificate joining the Lowther Castle trading between New York, China and Japan during the period of the Russo-Japanese War.
On obtaining his first class Marine Engineer’s certificate he joined the White Star line serving on the Adriatic, Teutonic, Olympic and Titanic, having been appointed Junior Assistant 2nd Engineer. His monthly wage for this Titanic appointment being £12.10s. It was said by Mr Shepherd senior, that Joseph Bell selected Jonathan for the Titanic engineering department and he was very honoured to have been chosen.
Jonathan Shepherd was on duty on the evening of the 14th of April, subsequent to the collision with the ice-berg, he helped his fellow engineers rig pumps in boiler room 5 but in the process of doing so he broke his leg, having slipped into a raised access plate. Shortly after the nearby bulkheads were breached and the helpless Jonathan Shepherd drowned as the icy waters overwhelmed him. RIP another heroic Cumbrian.
Joseph Bell, Chief Engineer on the R.M.S. Titanic 